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European Imperialism
&“The Great War”
1914-1918
AP Euro –
Chapter 25 – The Age of Western
Imperialism ( Napoleon cover)
Chapter 25 – Imperialism,
Alliances, and War ( Yellow
cover)
Imperialism
 One country’s domination of another
country
The New Imperialism (18701914)
 The policy of extending a nation’s
authority by territorial acquisition or by
establishing economic and political
hegemony over other nations
Imperialism Possibly
Resulted From:
 1. Industrial Revolution – Industrial Wealth = source of
power
 demand for raw materials; Commercial interests
 New weapons developed
 2. Nationalism – competition between nations
 Overseas territories
 Bigger Armies
 Technologically advanced weapons
 3. Feelings of Racial Superiority Social Darwinism
 Europeans “superior” to others
Justifications at the time …
 European nations had
the “duty” to bring
“superior civilization”
to “backwards”
people
Forms of Imperial Rule:
 1. Colony- ruled directly through colonial
officials
 2. Protectorate – government guided by
foreign power
 3. Sphere of Influence- imperialist power
has exclusive trading rights
The British Empire
 1. India (including
Pakistan and
Bangladesh)
 “the jewel of the
British empire”
 Central to British
Military & Economy
The British Empire
 1. India
 The Sepoy
Rebellion, 1857-1858
 Indian troops rebelled
against British
 India gained
independence in 1947
(after WWII)
The British Empire
 2. Egypt (unofficial)
 Suez Canal opened in
1869
 The canal reduced
shipping distance
between Great Britain and
India
 Britain “unofficially”
advised Egyptian leaders
for the next 70 years
The Partition of Africa, 1885
 Otto von Bismarck
Hosted the Berlin
Conference
 Purpose: for
European nations to
divide African
continent amongst
themselves
The Partition of Africa, 1885
 By 1914, European
powers controlled all
of African continent
 Except: Liberia &
Ethiopia
European Nations and
Imperialism in Africa
 France: Algeria,
Tunisia, Morocco
 Italy: Libya and
Turkey
 Great Britain:
Egypt, Sierra
Leone, Gambia,
Ghana, Nigeria,
Cecil Rhodes & Rhodesia
European Nations and
Imperialism in Africa
 Belgium-King
Leopold II, 18791884
 Claimed the Congo as his
“personal plantation”
 Enslaved inhabitants
 Extracted ivory, rubber,
other resources
 Established Brutal
imperial rule
The Dutch in South Africa
 Dutch Colonists arrived early 1600’s
“Afrikaners”
 The Boer War – (1899-1902)
 British vs. Dutch fought over territory
 British won
 Established racist rule = apartheid
European Nations and
Imperialism in Asia
 Great Britain - India
 Brought irrigation, railroads, cottage industry,
justice system
 Demanded English as official language
 2. The Netherlands ( Holland) -Indonesia
 Establish -Dutch East Indies Forced labor of farmers
 Inhabitants allowed to speak indigenous
languages
 Both had rich & varied natural resources
European Nations and
Imperialism in Asia
 France- became involved in South East
Asia in 1850’s
 French established colony of Indochina =
(modern day) Vietnam
European Nations and
Imperialism in Asia
 Russia - 1891
established TransSiberian Railroad
 Russia leased land
(Liaotung) from
China and obtained
the right to build
railroads in
Manchuria
Consequences of the New
Imperialism
 1. Damaged and
sometimes
destroyed native
cultures
 2. Created a global
economy
 3. Intensified
European rivalries
The Great War (1914-1918)
Otto von Bismarck’s Network of
Alliances
 Germany joined a military alliance with
Austria-Hungary in 1879
 Italy joined this alliance in 1882
 They formed the “Triple Alliance”
 Kaiser William II forced Bismarck to
resign in 1890
Germany- Kaiser William II’s
Aggressive Policies
 Eager to demonstrate his power, William II
financed a program of naval and military
expansion in Germany
 Great Britain, Europe’s historic naval
power ( since Queen Elizabeth I), felt
threatened
Germany- Growth Prior to WWI
 Industrial Growth: By
1900, Germany produced
more steel than Great
Britain and France
combined
 Population growth:
Germany had 64 million
people in 1910, France 40
million that same year
 Military
Growth/Expansion
The Entente Cordiale ( Friendly
Understanding)
 France and Russia signed
the Franco-Prussian
alliance in 1894
 Great Britain Formed
and alliance with France
and Russia in 1904
 They then formed the
Triple Entente
“4 M.A.I.N.” Long Term Causes
of WWI
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1. Militarism
2. Alliances
3. Imperialism
4. Nationalism
1.Militarism
 Glorification of war
 Nations wanted
“bigger armies” and
More destructive
weapons
 “Conscription” or
draft
2.Alliances
 1. Alliance Systems:
defense agreements
amongst nations
(sometimes secret)
3. Imperialism
 Nations competed
For:
 Overseas territories
 Foreign investments
 Raw materials
 new economic
markets
4. Nationalism
 Extreme Patriotism Belief that one’s
nation is superior
because they have the
largest army, the most
land, the most wealth.
The Balkans Peninsula
Made up of Various ethnic groups ( mostly
Slavic Groups / “Slavs”)
Exception: Greeks and Romanians
The Balkans Peninsula
 Various ethnic groups
spoke the same language
 Used different alphabets
depending on religion
 Serbs & Bosnians=
Eastern Orthodox
(Cyrillic Alphabet)
 Croats & Slovenes =
Catholics (Roman
Alphabet)
Background Info
 Austria- Hungary
 Took over BosniaHerzegovina in 1908
 Serbians claimed
territory was theirs
Background info
 Pan- Slavic movement: Serbian leaders
hoped to create a unified Slav nation
 Autria-Hungary felt threatened by Slavic
nationalism
Immediate Cause WWI
 June 28th, 1914
 The Assassination of
the Heir to AustriaHungarian Throne
 Francis Ferdinand
Immediate Cause WWI
 Austria-Hungary
 Blamed Serbian
radicals and held them
responsible
The Assassin-Gavrilo Princip
 Member of radical
group “Black Hand”
 Seven other assassins
implicated
 Austria- Hungary
asked Germany how
to proceed
The “Blank Check”
 Germany advised the following: “be
firm”
 Austria- Hungary felt assured Germany
would back them up…
Austria-Hungary
 Declared war on
Serbia, in 1914
 WWI began as a
“regional” Conflict
between :
 Austria – Hungary
vs. Serbia
How Does a “Local” Conflict
Transform itself into a World
War?
 “ALLIANCES” dragged the entire
European continent into the war
 “IMPERIALISM” dragged foreign
territories Into the war
Sides & Alliances
 The Triple Entente
(Allies)
 1. Serbia
 2. France
 3. Great Britain
 4. Russia
 5. U.S. (1917)
 And all foreign
colonies
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The Central Powers
1. Austria-Hungary
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Ottoman Empire.
And all foreign
colonies
Schlieffen Plan
 Germany’s military
strategy:
 1. invade Belgium
(Belgium was neutral)
 2. Advance into
France/ Defeat French
 3. Move on to Russia
 Flaw: plan ignored the
British response
Trench Warfare
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“Western Front”
Battle line stretching
500 miles
From Switzerland to
North Sea
“No Man’s Land”
 Separated 2 trenches
 Mines & barbed Wire
Protected area in front
of trench
 point: to run across
“no man’s land” to
enemy trench
New Weapons Introduced
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1. Machine guns
2. heavy artillery
3. Mustard Gas
4. Tanks
5. U-Boats
(submarines)
 Weapons /new
technology
transformed the way
wars are fought
“Flaming Coffins”
 Planes – 15 yrs old
 Noisy, “crude
vehicles”
 Pilot sits directly
above fuel tank
 Morse Code
Transmitter
 No brakes…
Germans Introduce U-BOAT
 Early Submarines
 May 1915 U-boat
Fired at British ship
 U-Boats fired at
passenger and freight
vessels, merchant
ships
Battle of Gallipoli
 1915-Jan 1916
(Turkey)
 Triple Entente wanted
 Control of
Dardanelles straits
 Humiliating defeat for
the British
Battle of Verdun, Battle of Somme
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1916 (France)
*horrific casualties:
Germans 500,000
Great Britain 400,000
French 200,000
British introduced
tanks
Armenian Genocide
 Ottoman Turks
 Starved & Murdered
Armenians because
they supported Russia
& Triple Entente
British Strategy…
 Col. T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of
Arabia”) worked against Turks in Mid.
East
 Balfour Note – 1917 promised British
support of a Jewish homeland in the
middle east
Sinking of the Lusitania
 1. German U-Boat fired a torpedo and sank
the Lusitania, 1915
 A British passenger liner
 1,200 lives lost, 130 Americans
The Sinking of the Lusitania
 Caused outrage in the
American Public
 Germany claimed…
 The Ship was
carrying American
weapons and supplies
to Great Britain
“Zimmerman “ Telegram
 British intercepted a
telegram sent to
 The German
Ambassador in
Mexico
 If Mexico formed an
alliance with Germany,
Germany would help it
regain the Southwest
territories lost to the U.S.
German Unrestricted Submarine
Warfare
 German U-boats disrupted trade
 Defied the right to free trade
 German U-boats patrolled the Atlantic off
the coast of Great Britain
 Engaged others ( military and civilian)in
“un-restricted” warfare
U.S. Entered WWI
 April 2, 1917
 American President Woodrow Wilson
asked Congress to Declare war on
Germany and allies
Wilson’s (most important) 14
Points- Jan.1918
 1. Abolishment of secret
treaties
 2. Freedom of the seas
 3. Economic freedom
 4. Reduction of arms
 5. End of colonization
 6-13. Freedom of all
people to choose
independence
 14. Formation of an
international organization
for collective security
(League of Nations)
The End of WWI
 Germans sought
“Armistice” –
agreement to end
fighting
 WWI ended on11-11-1918
Treaty of Versailles, 1919
 Resolution is discussed
 Central Powers excluded from negotiations
The “Big Four”, Met in 1919
 Woodrow Wilson =
U.S.
 Georges Clemenceau
= France
 Lloyd George = Great
Britain
 Vittorio Orlando =
Italy
New European Map
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New Countries formed as a result of WWI:
1. Czechoslovakia
2. Hungary
3. Austria
4. Romania
5. Serbia
6. Yugoslavia
7. Poland
8Finland
9, 10, 11. Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia
Treaty of Versailles, 1919
 Article 231:
 Placed sole blame for the war on Germany
 Their Army/navy was reduced
 Germany lost all of its colonies around the
world
Wilson’s League of Nations
 International forum
the answer for peace
 U.S. congress voted
against it
 Article X: called for
members to stand
ready if another
member nation’s
sovereignty was
threatened
League of Nations Would
Have..
 1. Dealt with economic & social problems
 2. Encouraged world disarmament
 3. Settled disputes between nations
peacefully
WWI Aftermath
 10 million soldiers killed
 3-5 million civilians killed
 28-30 million wounded or disabled
 Cost $400 billion (modern day currency)
European Women & WWI
 Millions of women took
jobs in factories, offices,
war industries
 Employment of women
essential to war effort
 Women’s suffrage leaders
such as Emmeline
Pankhurst encouraged
women to contribute to
the war effort
WWI in Literature
 All is Quiet on the
Western Frontwritten by Erich
Maria Remarque
 A German veteran of
WWI
 Described the
senseless violence and
suffering of soldiers
The Trench Coat
 Designed by the
Burberrys company in
London
 For WWI soldiers
The Spanish Influenza - A
worldwide “ Pandemic”
 More casualties than the war!
 Spring 1918- 1919
 22 million people throughout the world
died due to influenza